Moving to the Cayman Islands

So how did this whole move come to be? Well, let me tell you….

It all started in December 2023. My husband and I had just gotten back from an epic trip where we visited London, Paris, Disneyland and spent 3 great weeks with family in Dubai! (More on that trip coming later!).

My husband, Remi, got an interesting email from his boss. It was a job posting in the Cayman Islands. The email simply said “let me know if you want to talk about it”. Interesting. We then, of course, made a ton of jokes like “how funny would it be if we actually moved to the Cayman Islands, HA HA HA”. Well, Remi then received an email from the CRO (Chief Risk Officer) of CayBank. She simply said “Mark said I could reach out to you about this. Let me know if you want to chat.” Well, all of a sudden it seemed like a very real possibility.

Before anything else happened, before any next steps, we had some research to do!! Did the Cayman Islands allow for pet imports? I wasn’t about to leave me animals behind!! While being there on a work permit, what did that mean for me? Would I be able to work? Travel in and out of the country? Can we, eventually, become a permanent resident, and how did we make that happen?

Once we had some answers, Remi then had to officially apply for the job. It really did feel like we were doing this a little backwards! Now, as we all know, applying for jobs now is an annoying process of ridiculous online HR sites that want you to upload your resume but also fill in a hundred little boxes that have all the same information. Remi was told not to do that. He still had to apply, but in a different way. This was a moment I looked at him and said “they want you for this job.” There was no doubt in my mind, our lives were going to change dramatically in 2024.

At this point it was mid-January. I had a trip to Walt Disney World planned for the end of the month. We still weren’t 100% sure this was happening but we were still pretty confident.

“What do you wanna bet you get the offer while I’m on the plane heading down?” I said to Remi the night before I left. Guess what? That’s exactly what happened!! When my plane landed in Orlando, I turned off airplane and got the message. He got the job offer! It was a verbal offer and we would wait another 3 weeks before the contracts were signed but it was happening!

Next up, preparing for the big move!